Paint protection films are adhered to the surfaces of articles having painted surfaces or paint film on surfaces thereof (e.g., painted automobiles and their components or metal plates such as a steel plate and their molding, or the like) in order to protect from surface damage or defects during transportation, storage, aging or construction of such articles. Paint protection film is generally removable from the painted surface or paint film on a surface. Such paint protection film should be removable without leaving residues on the painted surface or paint film after use as a protective means.
Paint protection films useful in these applications typically include a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer on one face of a support substrate. For example, a pressure sensitive adhesive layer useful in a paint protection film for automobile applications includes a polyisobutylene-based pressure sensitive adhesive (Japanese Patent No. 2832565). Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H9-3420 discloses a paint film protection sheet that comprises a support substrate provided with a rubber-based PSA layer containing a highly polar inducer.
Non-crosslinked pressure sensitive adhesives generally tend to have poor cohesive strength and it is difficult to increase initial adhesion of these types of pressure sensitive adhesives when used in paint protection films. Over cross-linked pressure sensitive adhesives can create silvering or other surface defects when used in paint protection films.
There is a need to provide paint protection films having sufficient initial adhesion to facilitate application of the paint protection film to a painted surface or paint film on such surface while avoiding adhesive residue on such surface. There is also a need to provide paint protection films that are able to dissipate initial strains experienced during installation while providing sufficient in use adhesion of the paint protection film to a painted surface or a paint film. There is yet another need to provide paint protection films that do not exhibit silvering or other surface defects once applied to a painted surface or a paint film.